HOW GOD COMMUNICATES

You Might Think I'm Crazy

(I had the honor of being the guest speaker at a recent Lenten Luncheon. I am sharing a written portion of my presentation today, but you can listen to a computer-generated reading of it on your Substack app by pressing the little triangle at the top right corner of the screen.)

Hello, Everyone! As many of you know, I was a teacher for nearly 40 years so Pop Quizzes are second nature to me. Now, don’t get nervous. I can feel some test anxiety in the room already. But I’m only going to ask you one question with a multiple choice answer. And there’s NO wrong answer. I promise.

Ok, here we go. If I told you that you had to put a bicycle together to pass my class, how would you go about it? Raise your hand if you’d prefer to:

A. Read the written instructions

B. Look at the diagrams

C. Watch a demonstration

D. Jump in and try different things

You can see there are a lot of different learning styles in this fellowship hall today. Surprisingly, it took Education a long time to realize “one size doesn’t fit all” and that educators should use a lot of different ways to teach kids.

Guess who always knew that? Right! God.

That’s why He has always used different methods to communicate with different people. He uses Scriptures, Prayers, Sermons, Music, Other People, Signs, Visions, Dreams to help us learn and grow in our Faith.

Today, I want to talk to you about how God communicates with me. I’m a little nervous about doing that in a room full of 130 “veteran” Christians who really know the Scriptures. Even though I studied the Bible in Confirmation class and learned how to pray when I was a teenager, I never felt as if God communicated with me back then.

It wasn’t until I was in my early twenties that God “called my number” and got my attention in a unique way. I hope by sharing my personal testimony today you may become more comfortable with some of the non-traditional ways God communicates with people like me.

When we were in our early twenties, my husband and I eloped because my parents didn’t approve of us. They were sure we would become losers together and reminded us of it regularly. We did really struggle as a young couple, especially financially. I was still in college and my husband didn’t have a very good job. We fought a lot. I was starting to think my parents were right, and we might have to get a divorce. One night I called out to God, surrendering to whatever would be. Suddenly, an amazing peace came over me that I had never felt before.

Early the next morning when I walked by our phone, it rang. I answered and the voice asked, “Is Al there?” It was Hazel Franks, the owner of Craycraft Trucking, offering my husband a new job. I didn’t know Hazel back then, but she quickly became our guardian angel. Matter-of-fact, when we went to visit her in the hospital on her last day, she opened her eyes and said, “Ah, Kids, do you need anything?”

Dr. Hazel (Craycraft) Franks ~ 1921-2011

I am so thankful God answered my call that day. Since then He has used people like Hazel many times to help me grow in my faith.

(I went on in my speech to share several more stories I had already written about in this blog. You can click on these links if you would like to read them: Angels Among Us and Sanibel.)

Although it may sound crazy, God has definitely communicated with me through Signs too.

(I then enjoyed telling the audience about my experiences with the #22. I will not rewrite them in today’s blog, but you can read about them at this link - Is That You God?)

In closing I’d like to share the recent time God messaged me. I had worked really hard directing a production of M*A* S*H for a local fundraiser in memory of Cory Washburn, a young man close to my heart who had committed suicide. Before the first performance, I was nervously standing under a pendent light in the nurse’s tent looking at a picture of Cory we were using as a set prop when my light guy yelled down, “Jan, we can get all the other pendent lights to go completely out; but, no matter what we do, we can only dim that one.”

I ran up to the light booth. “Gary, I think it’s God!”

“You have such an imagination, Jan.”

And, you know what? That might just be the reason God talks to me the way he does. After all, God talked to Moses through a burning bush.

It’ll Be OK.

~~~

“Honk if you love Jesus; text if you want to meet Him.” ~ Alethea Black

COMMENT: HOW DOES GOD COMMUNICATE WITH YOU?